


Golden Sweet

by Pappels (SabakuNoKel)



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Mangos, Pre-Movie(s), There's A Tag For That, TinyToa, Younger!Maui, and a surprise guest appearance at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 17:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10442979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabakuNoKel/pseuds/Pappels
Summary: The first meeting that started it all





	

**Author's Note:**

> To the anon that requested a first meeting fic

Pushing his way through the dense forest Maui basked in the bright colors of the strange foliage, the heavy quality of the air, and the screeches of monsters in the distance.

Ah Lalotai, there was no other place like it.

The Realm of Monsters was such an interesting and exciting place for a young demigod and to someone like Maui who's curiosity bordered on infinite it was the perfect place to be. Sailing the seas was great and visiting islands always got him lots of fans and good food but it was all becoming a touch predictable. He needed something to break the monotony, a grand new adventure for people to talk about for generations to come and he knew just where to find it.

Well, somewhat.

Maui had ventured into Lalotai before but it hadn't been for sightseeing. After he had first been given his hook by the gods Maui had yearned for a challenge to truly test himself against, certain he would prove unbeatable armed with his new weapon. The gods had warned him however never to turn his hook on a human but he had been eager for a fight so he'd set sail for Lalotai.

He had heard the tales of the fearsome realm and had been eager to test his strength against the monsters of legend.

He had not been disappointed.

He'd fought all manner of terrifying creatures and come out bruised and bleeding but victorious every time until rumor had started to spread and less and less monsters came seeking him out. That had been kind of disappointing but he'd run out of rations by that point anyway and not all monsters were edible so he had returned to the human world once more. He hadn't been back until now as the humans had kept him busy but the demigod had picked up some new tricks since his last visit and while Lalotai still held some surprises for him Maui was confident there was nothing the realm of monsters could throw at him that he couldn’t handle.

Except maybe a drop down a steep cliff.

Maui quickly reeled back before he really did take a tumble. The forest he'd been traversing had rapidly thinned and fallen away beneath his feet, a gaping ravine stretching out before him, the hot glow of lava pooling at it's depths.

Well at least he knew he was going in the right direction.

Legend had it the secret of fire was kept by the fire goddess Mahuika who resided at the heart of a volcano. Maui was certain the gift of fire would make for a grand tale and sought to bring it back to the humans- of course for them to really appreciate it he first had to put _out_ all their fires but that was easily done for an amazing demigod like himself. When the humans found all their fires extinguished Maui quickly cut through the panic and offered to travel to Mahuika's lair to bring fire to them once more, much to their gratitude.

It shouldn’t prove hard to find the volcano now that he had found the ravine, the river of lava snaking in it's belly had yet to cool and set so it's source must be close by. Humming to himself Maui followed along the ravine, his mind already drifting to the huge feast he was sure to receive upon his triumphant return.

Maui walked for a long time before his path narrowed abruptly. A huge mountain blocked most of his path, leaving only a thin ridge between it and the plunging ravine. Maui stopped at the foot of the mountain to consider his options, he could stay on his course and run the risk of falling or he could go around and add gods only knew how long to his journey, not to mention the possibility of losing track of the ravine. Another option would be to fly over the mountain, though he'd have to be careful not to get sucked into the sea above and swept away by the currents.

In the end Maui decided to remain on the path, certain he could traverse it and he could always change into his hawk form should the need arise.

He'd only taken one step forward before his path was once again blocked.

"Halt!"

The demigod blinked in surprise at the talking crab that had suddenly jumped out in front of him. It was larger than any crab he'd ever seen in the human world, coming up to his knees in height and its soft purple face and claws stood out brightly against the plain brown of the conch shell it carried on its back.

Maui could tell the small monster was trying to look fierce but its frowning mismatched eyes and determined face made it look anything but intimidating. Squatting down to the crab's level both monster and demigod observed the other curiously. After some seconds had passed and Maui had determined the little thing wasn’t going to try and attack him he smiled.

"Hey there buddy, aren't you a cute little fellah." He said, reaching out to pet the crab but fast as lightning the crab pinched his finger with one of its claws. " _Ouch!_ "

Maui tried to wrench his finger back but the monster was strong for its size and refused to let go. A decapod was no match for a demigod though and on the third attempt he managed to free his finger from the monster's grasp. Maui inspected his smarting finger, glad to see that while it was rapidly turning purple it wasn’t actually bleeding.

Maui glared at the crab and it glared right back as it threateningly snipped its claws at him.

"Don’t think you can trick me with your compliments! If you want to pass the great Tamatoa you must pay the toll." Was this little guy for real? If Maui wanted to he could throw him halfway across Lalotai with a single swing of his hook before he could so much as apologize for pinching him. Still he had to give the young monster- Tamatoa Maui believed he called himself- props for standing up for himself, it had to be tough being rather small and all alone in a place like Lalotai.

"What kind of toll are you asking?" Maui didn’t really want to have to fight the little guy just to get past him and the village elders did always say that sometimes the easiest way forward was to compromise. Maui disagreed with that of course, he was more of a swing his hook first ask questions later kind of demigod but maybe he could make an exception just this once.

"Something sparkly or shiny!" Tamatoa demanded, looking excited.

Maui shook his head. "I don’t have anything sparkly or shiny."

The crab's face soured.

Tamatoa looked him over, scrutinizing him for a moment before perking up and pointing a claw at the hook held loosely in his hand.

"How about that?"

"My hook? No can do little guy, I kind of need this thing to kick butt." Maui explained as he swung the weapon onto his shoulder, out of grabbing reach of the crustacean (just in case). Tamatoa wouldn’t be the first to covet his hook, though he didn’t know about its magic properties but if he did he'd probably want it even more.

Tamatoa was looking annoyed now and Maui was sure the crab was moments away from denying him passage for being difficult. It wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose, he just didn’t have anything but his hook and the bag of provisions he'd left the island with.

Now there was an idea that just might appease the little critter.

"Hold on." Maui unwrapped the bag from his back and pulled out a mango, setting it in front of the monster in the sand. The crab didn’t look impressed seeing as the fruit could hardly be considered sparkly or shiny but Maui could tell from the twitching antennae that he was curious.

"What is it?" Tamatoa nudged the mango carefully with a claw, quickly reeling back as though it might spring up and attack him. Maui chuckled as the mango just rolled in the sand.

"It's called a mango, it's a type of fruit." Maui explained. The demigod had never seen any kind of fruit in Lalotai as the only trees he'd encountered looked more like anemones and large corals so a mango should be a very special treat to someone who'd never had one before.

"For eating." He added at the crab's continued look of confusion.

Tamatoa didn’t look convinced.

"It doesn’t look very edible. Its not even moving." The monster was eyeing the mango with distrust now, like he thought Maui was offering him the carcass of some strange dead animal.

Maui huffed out a laugh. "It's not supposed to."

He picked the mango back up.

"I'll show you." Maui said as he threw the mango in the air and sliced it in half with his hook. He easily caught both halves of the fruit, the monster looking rather impressed as he did.

He put one half of the mango down in front of Tamatoa, the cut fruit glistening with juice. The little crab quickly inched closer to inspect it, probably drawn by the sweet smell, and while he certainly looked tempted he was still cautious.

"It's gold and sweet on the inside. Go on, try it." Maui urged.

It seemed Tamatoa had apparently decided the mango could be trusted as he used his claw to scoop up some meat and carefully munched on it. Instantly the monster's eyes went wide, his antennae perking up as he quickly stuffed the rest of the fruit he was holding into his mouth.

Maui had to fight a smile, thinking to himself that the monster looked strangely adorable with his odd sparkling eyes and bloated cheeks.

"Glad you like it. Will this cover the toll?" Maui asked. Part of him wanted to stay a little longer and find out if Tamatoa might like any of the other fruits he'd brought with him but he did need to continue on his journey, if he left the humans without their fires for too long who knew what could happen in his absence.

Tamatoa seemed to consider it for a moment before pointing at the remaining half of the mango in Maui's hand.

"The other one too."

"You drive a hard bargain." He passed the other half of the mango to the crab who grinned at his prize.

"You may pass." Tamatoa said as he happily scuttled off, almost tripping over his little legs while trying to balance the mango halves in his claws. Maui shook his head fondly at the retreating crustacean, glad to know that even in a place like Lalotai at least there was one crab that wasn't too bad to deal with.

Well Maui supposed he'd better get going and once again turned to the mountain.

Suddenly the ground beneath his feet began to tremble and the demigod had to quickly jump out of the way as giant boulders rolled off the mountain.

The mountain started rising, several rocky looking legs emerging from beneath it.

It wasn’t a mountain at all.

It was a giant crab.

The giant rock covered crab was humongous and looked like it was older than the earth itself. It's legs, claws, and face were all grey, almost completely blending in with the cargo on its back except for its bright emerald green eyes. Maui felt like a tiny fish come face to face with a great white shark as those giant eyes regarded him, staring him down for what felt like millennia.

After a long moment the crab turned its intense gaze from him and to the direction Tamatoa had gone, Maui sucking in a shaky breath as the weight of those eyes left him. Its movements were slow but Maui was certainly the crab could cross the length of an entire island in a single sweeping step. The ground quaked with every step it took and the tremors could still be felt even after it had moved almost out of sight. Maui stood frozen for the longest time, staring after the monster until it was far off into the distance.

Maui's legs gave out beneath him.

Holy gods.

He had assumed Tamatoa had been alone but that giant crab must have been protecting him. Maui was suddenly really glad he'd decided not to throw the little crab across the realm when he'd first jumped out at him, didn’t want to even think about what might have happened if he did.

Maui vowed to always have some fruit or something shiny with him in case he ran into Tamatoa again.

The demigod forced himself to stand and continue his journey, ignoring the shaky feeling in his legs.

After coming face to face with that giant crab stealing fire for the humans should be a breeze.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to finish this way sooner but its raid week on my game so I've had no time for typing whoops
> 
> p.s. I'm still open to prompts on my tumblr http://pepperedappels.tumblr.com/


End file.
